Humidor for tobacco or tobacco products having means associated therewith for keeping the tobacco moist



J. 'r. PHELPS Aug. 15, 1967 HUMIDOR FOR TOBACCO OR TOBACCO PRODUCTS HAVING MEANS ASSOCIATED THEREWITH FOR KEEPING THE TOBACCO MOIST Filed Feb. 5, 1965 llnllllrilllllll Ildlllllll INVENTOR u? H n Z M J I United States Patent 3,336,093 HUMIDOR FOR TOBACCO OR TOBACCO PROD- UCTS HAVING MEANS ASSOCIATED THERE- WITH FOR KEEPING THE TOBACCO MOIST John T. Phelps, 520 W. Romneya Drive, Anaheim, Calif. 92801 Filed Feb. 3, 1965, Ser. No. 430,026 6 Claims. (Cl. 31231.1)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A circular humidor having a dome-shaped cover which cover has a central opening therein, a closure for the opening in the cover, an annular flange extending upwardly from the opening in the cover, and an annular ledge extending inwardly from the flange on the cover. A container having a body portion of such size that it may be inserted through the opening in the cover, an annular upper flange resting on said ledge, and means associated with the ledge on the cover and the flange on the container for holding the container in place. The container has a series of spaced apertures in the upper portion of its side wall and a liner arranged within the container having a bottom wall resting on the bottom wall of the container and a circular side wall which extends above the apertures in the container. The liner contains a liquid of the aqueous containing type which is always maintained below the apertures in the container and the liner is composed of a material having a capillary attraction for the liquid so that the liquid in the liner will be drawn upwardly passed said apertures through which vapors pass to be absorbed by the tobacco in the humidor.

My invention relates to a humidor for tobacco or tobacco products having means associated therewith for imparting moisture to the tobacco which moisture may also contain vapors which improve the flavor of the tobacco.

As is now well known, tobacco confined within the usual containers in the loose state, such as pipe tobacco, or in boxes or containers in the form of tobacco products, such as cigars, cigarollas, or cigarettes, has the tendency to crumble or break into small particles or fragments, or may even disseminate into the form of fine powder when kept in a dry warm room unless some means is provided to keep the tobacco moist. In accordance with the present invention, a humidor is provided and a container having a liquid therein is associated with the cover of the humidor and extends downwardly therefrom into the upper portion of the humidor when the cover is placed thereon. The container has spaced apertures arranged around its upper periphery and contains an absorbent liner formed of a material having comparatively high capillarity, such as felt or woven or compressed 'cellulosic fibres, which draws liquid within the bottom portion of the container upwardly to a position even with or above the apertures in the container and as -the liquid within the liner vaporizes it passes into the body of the humidor and is at least partly absorbed by the tobacco or tobacco product therein.

Preferably the container is associated with the cover of the humidor and is partly filled with water or an aqueous liquid containing alcohol. The liquid is maintained below the apertures in the container but because of the capillary attraction of the material of which the linear is composed, the liquid is drawn upwardly into and beyond alignment with the apertures in the container where it vaporizes and the vapors passing through the apertures into the container are absorbed by the tobacco or tobacco products in the humidor which are therefore maintained in a fresh moist state and if the liquid is alcoholic, or contains an alcohol, such as wine, brandy, or rum, the vapors from the liquid impart a flavor to the tobacco which enhances the enjoyment derived when the tobacco is smoked.

In my improved humidor, the lid is preferably domeshaped and terminates in an upwardly extending circular flange which is of suflicient size to permit the container to be inserted therethrough and means associated with the cover is provided for holding the container in place. In accordance with my invention, the cover for the humidor has a downwardly extending flange that fits around the upper periphery of the body of the humidor and is dome-shaped so that when the cover for the humidor is removed, it may be placed upon a table at which time the bottom of the container which is suspended within the dome of the cover is spaced upwardly from the table. In other words, the container need not extend downwardly beyond the peripheral flange of the cover, although if desired, it may extend downwardly to such an extent that its lower portion lies within the body of the humidor.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a humidor for tobacco or a tobacco product and the container associated therewith having a liquid therein and means whereby vapors from the liquid may pass from the container into contact with the tobacco or tobacco product in the humidor to keep the tobacco moist.

Another object of the invention is to provide a humidor for tobacco or tobacco products including a cover therefor and means associated with the cover for suspending a container having apertures in its upper peripheral por tion which container has a liner therein which is formed of a material having capillary attraction for drawing liquid in the container upwardly in alignment with or past the apertures in the container so that when the liquid in the liner vaporizes the vapors will pass through the apertures in the container and will flow into contact with and will be absorbed by the tobacco or tobacco product in the humidor.

My invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a humidor with parts broken away to show underlying parts which are in section and showing my improved container in position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a fragmentary portion of the cover with my improved container associated therewith;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the container with parts broken away and parts in section;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 3 of the liner; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 2 but showing a modification of my improved structure.

As illustrated in the drawings, a humidor is shown having a body portion 1 which is provided with a domeshaped cover 2 which terminates in an upwardly extending circular flange 3 and has a ledge 4 bordering the opening formed by the upwardly extending flange. While the humidor may be formed of any suitable material, such as wood or metal, as shown by the body 1 of the humidor and its cover 2 are formed of a plastic material and the circular flange 3 is externally threaded to receive an internally threaded flange on a knob-shaped closure 5 which may also be formed of a plastic material and which may be hollow throughout a substantial portion of its length to reduce its weight.

As shown in the drawings, a container 6 is provided which may be formed of any suitable rust resisting material, such as aluminum, and means associated with the cover and the container is provided to maintain the container in place and while various means may be provided for this purpose, as shown in FIG. 2, the container has an outwardly extending flange 7 which rests upon the ledge 4 when the container is inserted in place and which may be held in place in any desired manner. As shown in FIG. 2, a resilient split ring 8 is provided, the interior portion of which extends into a semicircular groove in flange 3 and the outer portion of which extends over flange 7 of the container. It will of course be understood that this method of holding the container in place is merely illustrative. For instance, as shown in FIG. 5, the upwardly extending circular flange which is designated by the numeral 3a in this modification is internally threaded and when the downwardly extending flange on the knob which in FIG. 5 is designated by the numeral 5a is threaded in place, its bottom edge rests upon the outwardly extending flange 7 of the container.

In accordance with my invention, the upper portion of the container 6 is provided with a plurality of spaced apertures 9 and a liner 10 is provided which may be formed of any suitable material having capillary attraction. It may, for instance, be formed of felt, wood, or compressed or woven cellulosic material, such as the material commercially used in manufacturing lamp wicks. The container is preferably filled up to a substantial distance but below the level of the aperture with a liquid, such as water or it may be filled to a similar level with an alcoholic liquid or a liquid containing an alcohol which imparts a flavor to the tobacco or tobacco product, such as wine, rum, or brandy. The liner 10 is arranged within the interior of the container 6 as shown and extends upwardly beyond the apertures in the container so that irrespective of how low the liquid in the container fails, it will be drawn upwardly past the apertures in the container so that when the liquid within the liner vaporizes, the vapors will flow into contact with and will be absorbed by the tobacco or tobacco product.

While the container 6 may be of suflicient length to extend downwardly a substantial distance within the humidor, the bottom of container 6 preferable terminates above the flange 11 of the cover so that when the cover is removed from the body portion of the humidor, it may be set on a table and when the knob 5 or 5a is removed, the container 6 may be filled to the desired height with water or a liquid which imparts a flavor to the tobacco or tobacco products.

What is claimed is:

1. A humidor including a closed body portion providing a chamber for holding tobacco or a tobacco product and a dome-shaped cover therefor, said cover having a central opening therein, an upwardly extending annular flange surrounding said opening and a ledge extending inwardly from the lower portion of the flange, a closure for the opening in said cover, a container having a bottom wall, a cup-shaped body portion of such size that it may be inserted through the opening in the cover and an outwardly extending annular flange engaging said ledge, means associated with the annular flange on the cover and the annular flange on the container for holding said container in position within said dome, said container being provided with a series of spaced apertures arranged below but within a short distance from the inside wall of said cover, a liner for said container, said liner consisting of a bottom wall engaging the bottom wall of the container and an annular side wall engaging the cup-shaped body portion of said container and extending above the apertures in said container, an aqueous containing liquid arranged in said liner, the upper level of which is maintained below the apertures in said container, and said liner being composed of a material which draws said liquid upwardly by capillary attraction to a position above said apertures so that vapors from the liquid may gradually pass through the apertures in said container for absorption by the tobacco or tobacco prod nets in the body portion of the humidor.

2. A humidor as defined in claim 1 in which the liquid in the liner contains an aqueous solution of alcohol.

3. A humidor as defined in claim 1 in which the liquid in the liner consists of an alcoholic beverage.

4. A humidor including a circular body portion providing a chamber for tobacco or tobacco products, a dome-shaped cover for said container having a flange engaging the outer periphery of the body portion, a central opening which is surrounded by an upwardly extending threaded annular flange, an annular ledge arranged inwardly of the bottom portion of said flange and a knob having a downwardly extending annular flange which threadedly engages the flange on the cover for closing the opening in said cover, a cup shaped container having a body portion of a size to extend through the opening in the cover, the bottom portion of which terminates above the flange on said cover and said container having an outwardly extending annular flange resting on said ledge, means associated with said cover and engaging the flange on said cover for holding the container in place, said container having a series of spaced apertures in its upper periphery arranged below but within a short distance from the inside wall of said cover, a liner for said container having a bottom portion resting on the bottom wall of the container and a wall portion extending above the apertures in said container, a liquid arranged in said liner, the upper level of which is below said apertures, and said liner being composed of a material which draws said liquid upwardly by capillary attraction to and above the apertures in said container so that vapors from the liquid may gradually evaporate and pass through the apertures in said container and be absorbed by the tobacco or tobacco products in the body portion of the container to keep the tobacco moist.

5. A humidor as defined in claim 4 in which the lower portion of the central flange on the cover has an annular recess therein and the means for holding the container in place consists of a resilient wire having its outer portion extending into the recess in the circular flange and its inner portion extending over the flange on said container.

6. A humidor for tobacco or tobacco products including a body portion and a cover therefor, said cover having a central opening which is surrounded by an upwardly extending internally threaded flange, an annular ledge arranged inwardly of said flange, a cup-shaped container having a body portion of such size that it may be inserted through the opening in the cover and an outwardly extending flange resting on said ledge, a knob having a downwardly extending annular flange which threadedly engages the flange extending upwardly from said cover and in which the lower edge of the flange on said knob engages the flange on said container for holding the container in place, said container having a series of spaced apertures in its upper periphery arranged below but within a short distance from the inside wall of said cover, a liner for the container consisting of a bottom wall engaging the bottom wall of said container and an annular side wall engaging the annular side wall of the container and extending above the apertures in said container, an aqueous containing liquid in said liner, the upper level of which is below the apertures in said container and said liner being composed of :a material which draws said liquid upwardly by capillary attraction to a position above 1 the apertures in said container which liquid upon vaporization passes through the apertures in the container for absorption by the tobacco in the body portion of said humidor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Sterns 2221l5 Radclilfe 312-311 Ochsenreiter 3 123 1.1 Dearling 239-515 Dupuy 23951.5

1o CHENCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner. 

1. A HUMIDOR INCLUDING A CLOSED BODY PORTION PROVIDING A CHAMBER FOR HOLDING TOBACCO OR A TOBACCO PRODUCT AND A DOME-SHAPED COVER THEREFOR, SAID COVER HAVING A CENTRAL OPENING THEREIN, AN UPWARDLY EXTENDING ANNULAR FLANGE SURROUNDING SAID OPENING AND A LEDGE EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM THE LOWER PORTION OF THE FLANGE, A CLOSURE FOR THE OPENING IN SAID COVER, A CONTAINER HAVING A BOTTOM WALL, A CUP-SHAPED BODY PORTION OF SUCH SIZE THAT IT MAY BE INSERTED THROUGH THE OPENING THE COVER AND AN OUTWARDLY EXTENDING ANNULAR FLANGE ENGAGING SAID LEDGE, MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ANNULAR FLANGE ON THE COVER AND THE ANNULAR FLANGE ON THE CONTAINER FOR HOLDING SAID CONTAINER IN POSITION WITHIN SAID DOME, SAID CONTAINER BEING PROVIDED WITH A SERIES OF SPACED APERTURES ARRANGED BELOW BUT WITHIN A SHORT DISTANCE FROM THE INSIDE WALL OF SAID COVER, A LINER FOR SAID CONTAINER, SAID LINER CONSISTING OF A BOTTOM WALL ENGAGING THE BOTTOM WALL OF THE CONTAINER AND AN ANNULAR SIDE WALL ENGAGING THE CUP-SHAPED BODY PORTION OF SAID CONTAINER AND EXTENDING ABOVE THE APERTURES IN SAID CONTAINER, AN AQUEOUS CONTAINING LIQUID ARRANGED IN SAID LINER, THE UPPER LEVEL OF WHICH IS MAINTAINED BELOW THE APERTURES IN SAID CONTAINER, SAID LINER BEING COMPOSED OF A MATERIAL WHICH DRAWS SAID LIQUID UPWARDLY BY CAPILLARY ATTRACTION TO A POSITION ABOVE SAID APERTURES SO THAT VAPORS FROM THE LIQUID MAY GRADUALLY PASS THROUGH THE APERTURES IN SAID CONTAINER FOR ABSORPTION BY THE TOBACCO OR TOBACCO PRODUCTS IN THE BODY PORTION OF THE HUMIDOR. 